Heart and vascular disease are major problems in the United States and throughout the world. Conditions such as atherosclerosis result in blood vessels becoming blocked or narrowed. This blockage can result in a lack of oxygenation to the heart, which has significant consequences since the heart muscle must be well oxygenated in order to maintain its blood pumping action.
Occluded, stenotic, or narrowed blood vessels may be treated with a number of relatively non-invasive medical procedures including percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), and atherectomy. Angioplasty techniques typically involve the use of a balloon catheter. The balloon catheter may be advanced through a vasculature over a guidewire so that the balloon is positioned at a target location. The balloon may then be inflated in a manner such that the restriction in the vessel is opened.
One of the major obstacles in treating coronary artery disease and/or treating blocked blood vessels is re-stenosis. Evidence has shown that cutting the stenosis, for example with an angioplasty balloon equipped with a cutting edge, during treatment can reduce incidence of re-stenosis. Additionally, cutting the stenosis may reduce trauma at the treatment site and/or reduce the trauma to adjacent healthy tissue. Cutting blades may also be beneficial additions to angioplasty procedures when the targeted occlusion is hardened or calcified. It is believed typical angioplasty balloons, alone, may not be able to sufficiently expand at least a portion of these hardened lesions. Thus, angioplasty balloons equipped with cutting edges have been developed in an attempt to enhance angioplasty treatments. There is an ongoing need for improved angioplasty devices, including cutting angioplasty balloons, and improved methods of treating intravascular stenoses and occlusions.